Ron is in the process of compiling histories of the Wiedmann,
Bender, and Krause families of Venturia, North Dakota.

The Wiedmann family has been traced to the Württemburg
area of Germany. They emigrated to the south Russian village of
Grossliebental, where Jakob Wiedmann was born. He married Elisabetha
Wagner in 1862 and almost immediately moved to the daughter colony
of Annental where their children were born. The family came to the
United States in 1890, arriving in Eureka, SD, and eventually homesteaded
1/2 mile west of Venturia. They were Lutherans in Russia, but affiliated
with the Venturia Baptist church.

Jakob Wiedmann built the Bazaar in 1901, the first building
in Venturia. His sons, Jacob S. and John started the Wiedmann Brothers
Hardware Store in Venturia in 1906. After Jacob S. died in 1914,
his younger brother, Philip, moved in from his farm to take over
the store. Philip's son, Otto - Ron's father - married Leah Krause.

The Martin Bender family originated in the ancestral village
of Kassel in the Glueckstal district of south Russia. The family
arrived at New York in December 1885 and homesteaded land 2 miles
north and 6 miles west of Venturia in the Spring of 1886. The Benders
were originally Lutherans in Russia, but were influenced by the
independent reformed movement. In the US they were life-long members
of the Venturia Baptist Church.

The Krause family originated in Schonlanke, Posen, Prussia,
and emigrated to Bessarabia, south Russia. The Samuel Krause family
came to the United States from Tarutino, Bessarabia in 1886 and
lived near Eureka, SD where they were members of the Eureka Lutheran
Church. Samuel Krause and Beata Hiller's son, Gottlieb Krause, homesteaded
land southwest of Venturia. Gottlieb married Katharina Dobler, and
their son, Jacob, married Frieda Bender, and lived in Zeeland for
several years before moving to Lehr with their daughter, Leah.